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Memorable moment

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Behind the scenes video

Santa Claus — also known as Father Christmas or, according to the Eleventh Doctor, Jeff (TV: A Christmas Carol) — was a legendary figure who distributed presents to good children on Christmas morning under their trees. He played an important part in the Christmas tradition on the planetEarth. Much like other Earth legends such as King Arthur, sources heavily contradict and dispute each other on the topic of whether Santa was a real figure or a fictional entity.

A shared-dream version of Santa Claus and his elvesIan and the Wolf, as well as his flying reindeer, appeared in a collective dream shared by the Twelfth Doctor, Clara Oswald, Shona McCullough, Ashley Carter, Albert Smithe and Fiona Bellows, who were being fed on by dream crabs. (TV: Last Christmas) He first appeared to the Doctor when he entered his TARDIS, and told him that Clara was not happy with their recent separation. (TV: Death in Heaven) According to the Doctor, Father Christmas represented their subconscious minds trying to break free of the induced dream state which was killing them. He appeared to know things about them, like that Shona liked My Little Pony, and also claimed to have watched over and taken care of everyone sharing the dream "from Christmas to Christmas". The group of six rode on Santa's sleigh over London as they one by one woke up again into the real world. He later appeared again to the Doctor, causing him to realise he was still in a dream and to wake up for real — although as the Doctor and Clara Oswald reunited in the real world and resumed their adventures together, a tangerine, one of Santa's calling card gifts, was seen on her windowsill. (TV: Last Christmas)

Danny Pink dressed as Santa Claus on Christmas Day in a dream crab-induced dream Clara Oswald was in. When she asked what day it was, he briefly joked that it was Easter and that he was dressed up as "Father Easter". Danny was in reality dead at this point in her timeline. (TV: Last Christmas)

When a young Grant asked his mother if the "old guy" at his bedroom window could come inside, she, thinking Grant was referring to Santa Claus, told him that the man was expected and that he could come in. When the Doctor realised this, he chuckled, "Ho ho ho ho" and wished Grant a merry Christmas. (TV: The Return of Doctor Mysterio)

Santa Claus and Father Christmas have different origins and are technically once considered different individuals. However, as in modern day, the character portrayed by Nick Frost in the television stories Death in Heaven and Last Christmas is identified in the closing credits as Santa Claus, and referred to in dialogue in Last Christmas with both names. A Christmas Carol also has the Eleventh Doctor describe the "fat fella" with both names.

According to writer Steven Moffat, "Everything except the very last scene" of Last Christmas "is a dream" and "[t]he tangerine represents the fact that Santa Claus obviously stage-managed the whole thing to get the [Twelfth] Doctor and Clara back together." [1]